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New Ae Dil Hai Mushkil Song!

Thank you Karan for not saying what time you would post this one exactly, and therefore not making me stay up all night waiting! Much better to have it just suddenly appear in my twitter feed.

Karan tweeted that this was his favorite song, and I think it might be my favorite too! It’s a little bouncier and happier than the others. At least, the way it sounds. The visuals are still pretty angst-y!

So, what I am getting from this, is that the big fancy dress thing that we keep seeing glimpses of (which someone in the comments suggested as a fashion show, and that makes sense to me) comes in the middle of Anushka and Ranbir’s “friendship”. Only, Ranbir goes too far and sings her a love song? Because they seemed pretty fine until he started singing and then her face fell. Anushka drags him off, they have their confrontation that we saw a glimpse of in “Bulleya“, and then Ranbir storms off to fall in love with Aish.

More importantly, what is with the Henna on Ranbir’s hands?!?!? That’s not normal, right? Sure I know men can wear henna and have henna tattoos and stuff. But I don’t think I’ve seen that level of intricate design on the hands for anyone besides a bride. Or maybe a close female relative of the bride. But not on a guy! Maybe it’s just a random thing because Karan thought it would look cool, but maybe it’s thematic? That Ranbir is in the position of the bride, eager for marriage?

10 thoughts on “New Ae Dil Hai Mushkil Song!”

It really bothers me that Ranbir is so clean shaven in this one song! I’m pretty sure it was a continuity thing because he was probably shooting for Jagga Jasoos at the same time. I know that hindu men get henna on their hands and legs when they are getting married but I’ve never seen such an intricate design before on a man. Honestly, Ranbir’s look in this song is kind of creeping me out.

I’m so glad it’s not just me! I didn’t want to say anything in case I was just being, like, gender-essentialist or something, but it’s weird, right? The cleanshaven, the turban, and henna. It also really accentuates how much he looks like his mother, which adds on a whole other level of creepy.

From what I understand so far, Ranbir is in love with Anushka but she doesn’t reciprocate and then he later meets Aishwarya. His body language is different with both the girls so I was wondering whether you feel that there is a time gap or he just changes due to heartbreak.

I’m thinking a small time gap, like he spends a lot of time hanging out with Anushka, they have a fight, he meets Aish, gets involved in a passionate affair with her, and then Anushka shows up again. So maybe Anushka doesn’t see him for 3 months or a year, but the audience is watching him most of the time? This is partly because Karan said in interviews very clearly that there is no time gap or flashback. Of course, he could be lying to us.

“I know that hindu men get henna on their hands and legs when they are getting married” — from where did you learn this, may I ask? Women get henna, but I’ve never seen a Hindu man get henna anywhere, especially on the occasion of marriage. I’ve sometimes seen Muslim men (not when they’re getting married) get henna on like one thumb of one hand, but never seen the kind of intricate designs that are common on women. So I’m really curious where you have seen henna designs on men.

If you are thinking of the red lines on dancers’ feet which kind of outline their feet (with a line drawn in the middle of the foot and perhaps a dot or two), that is not henna, but kumkum mixed with water. Since kumkum is made from turmeric, which is considered auspicious (as well as healthy), it is applied to both bride and groom during a wedding, as well as to male and female dancers’ feet in classical dance. I thought that this might be what you might have had in mind when you referred to “henna” on men’s feet, and so it seems.